Shoehorn

ABSTRACT

A shoehorn includes a body. The body has a connection portion and two holding portions respectively connected with two ends of the connection portion. A shoe-receiving space is defined within the connection portion and the two holding portions to receive a heel of a shoe. A guiding opening is formed between two ends of the two holding portions distal to the connection portion and communicating with the shoe-receiving space. Two blocking flanges are formed on and protrude inwardly from two inner side edge portions of the holding portions to block the heel of the shoe. Given the shoehorn, the connection portion and the holding portion and the shoe-receiving space facilitate users to easily take off a shoe. A grip stick expands the user groups of the shoehorn, and a shoe-receiving tool increases shoe-wearing effectiveness when connected with the body to press the body against the ground.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shoehorn with a connection portion connected between two symmetrical holding portions integrally formed with the connection portion.

2. Description of the Related Art

A shoehorn is a tool that lets the user put on a shoe more easily. Conventional shoehorns are spoon-shaped and have a smooth surface. Those spoon-shaped shoehorns assist with sliding the heel of a user's foot into a shoe and are pulled out of the shoe after the foot is fully inserted in the shoe. Given a shoehorn, users can conveniently wear the shoes without using fingers to relax the back of the shoes and increase the hygiene level in shoes wearing.

However, conventional shoehorns have the following drawbacks.

1. Because of their limited function and simple structure, the shoehorns are only used as an aid for wearing shoes.

2. The shoehorns are not well-suited for all users, especially when the users who do not feel well or suffer from low back pain need to bend over or squat down.

3. Less efficiency upon wearing shoes arises from inappropriate design of the shoehorns at the cost of the necessity of inserting the shoehorns many times before the shoes are fully put on.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a shoehorn to serve as an aid to user group expansion and higher efficiency in putting on and taking off a shoe.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the shoehorn includes a body. The body includes a connection portion, two holding portions, a shoe-receiving space, a guiding opening and two blocking flanges.

The two holding portions are respectively connected with two ends of the connection portion.

The shoe-receiving space is defined within the connection portion and the two holding portions and is adapted to receive a heel of a shoe to be inserted in the body.

The guiding opening is formed between two ends of the two holding portions distal to the connection portion and communicates with the shoe-receiving space.

The two blocking flanges are formed on and protrude inwardly from two inner side edge portions of the holding portions facing each other.

Preferably, the shoehorn further includes a grip stick, the grip stick has a stick insertion end formed on one end of the grip stick, and the connection portion has a stick-mounting portion formed on the connection portion and engaging the stick insertion end of the grip stick.

Preferably, the grip stick is curved.

Preferably, the grip stick is straight.

Preferably, the shoehorn further includes a shoe-fitting tool, the shoe-fitting tool has a tool insertion end formed on one end of the shoe-fitting tool, and the grip stick has a tool-receiving end connected with the tool insertion end of the shoe-fitting tool.

Preferably, the two blocking flanges are integrally formed with the respective holding portions.

Preferably, the body has multiple reinforced ribs connected with the blocking flanges.

Preferably, the connection portion and the two holding portions are integrally formed.

Preferably, the connection portion and the two holding portions are U-shaped.

Preferably, the connection portion is semicircular.

The foregoing shoehorn includes the connection portion, two holding portions respectively connected with two ends of the connection portion, and the shoe-receiving space defined within the connection portion and the holding portions for users to easily put on or take off a shoe inserted in the body. In collaboration with the grip stick, the shoehorn can be extensively applied to users of all ages to be significantly put into practice when the grip stick is connected with the body of the shoehorn. Additionally, under the circumstance that the grip stick is inserted in the body of the shoehorn, the shoe-fitting tool serves as an additional aid for user's foot to easily slip into a shoe together with the support of the grip stick and the body connected to each other.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a shoehorn in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the shoehorn in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the shoehorn in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a shoehorn in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a shoehorn in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of a shoehorn in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment of a shoehorn in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain definitions are stated beforehand as follows for the purpose of duly comprehension of the present invention. When a first element is “fastened” or “mounted” on a second element, it means that the first element can be placed on the second element directly or indirectly with another element therebetween. When a first element is “connected” to a second element, it means that the first element can be connected to the second element directly or indirectly with another element therebetween. The terms “vertical”, “horizontal”, “left” and “right” and similar terms are exemplified to facilitate description of embodiments of the present invention and should not be considered as the only limitation narrowing the scope of the embodiments. Moreover, the shoes mentioned in the present invention are specified as regular shoes with a toe cap, a vamp, a heel and a sole in connection with the toe cap, the vamp and the heel. A portion of the sole adjacent to the heel is called waist, which is located under a heel of the foot into the shoe.

With reference to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of a shoehorn 10 in accordance with the present invention includes a body 100. The body 100 is U-shaped and has a connection portion 110 and two holding portions 120. The connection portion 110 is semicircular to match the shape of a shoe inserted in the shoehorn. The two holding portions 120 serve as to assist users with taking off their shoes more easily as compared with the way of taking off the shoes with wearers' hands. The two holding portions 120 are respectively formed on two ends of the connection portion 110. The two holding portions 120 may be symmetrically formed on and protrude from two respective ends of the connection portion 110. The connection portion 110 is taken as a connection base in connection with the two holding portions 120 to enhance the overall structural strength of the body 100.

The body 100 has a shoe-receiving space 130 defined within the connection portion 110 and the two holding portions 120 to receive the heel of a shoe. In other words, the shape and size of the shoe-receiving space 130 should match those of the heels of the shoes. To avoid mismatch between the shoe-receiving space 130 and the heel in terms of the shape and size, the shoe-receiving space 130 can be made and dedicated to shoes of a size corresponding thereto. Hence, a variety of shoehorns with the shoe-receiving spaces 130 differing from each other in size to customize the shoehorns according to users' requirements.

To accommodate the heel of a shoe in the shoe-receiving space 130, a guiding opening 140 is formed between two ends of the two holding portions 120 distal to the connection portion 110 and communicates with the shoe-receiving space 130 for the heel of the shoe to be received within the shoe-receiving space 130, thereby easing the difficulty of inserting the heel of the shoe into the shoehorn.

Each of the connection portion 110 and the holding portions 120 has a smooth surface. The smooth surface is formed on an inner wall of the body 100 facing the shoe-receiving space 130 and may be treated with a polishing process or made from a polished material, such as rigid plastic with abrasion resistance. Given the smooth surface, abrasion between the shoe and the shoehorn when the shoe is inserted in the shoe-receiving space 130 can be effectively reduced to allow the shoe to be easily taken off and prevent the heel and counter of the shoe from being damaged because of the abrasion.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, to receive the heel of a shoe within the shoe-receiving space 130 for holding the heel with the body 100 and easily taking off the shoe, each holding portion 120 has a blocking flange 150. The two blocking flanges 150 are formed on and protrude respectively and inwardly from two inner side edge portions of the holding portions 120 facing each other and serve as blockage to prevent the heel of the shoe from escaping from the shoehorn. To facilitate production with less manufacturing processes, the blocking flanges 150 are integrally formed with the holding portions 120 and the connection portion 110. As far as flexibility and adaptivity of the blocking flanges 150 is concerned, each blocking flange 150 can be integrally formed as a U-shaped rubber strip.

As the holding portions 120 and the blocking flanges 150 extend from the connection portion 110 in a forward and obliquely descending direction, after a shoe is inserted in the shoe-receiving space 130 of the shoehorn, the heel of the shoe is located under the blocking flanges 150, such that the blocking flanges 150 limit the upward movement of the heel. When the foot of the user of the shoe is pulled off, the shoe is prevented from moving upwards with the foot, allowing the foot to be easily removed from the shoe for fulfillment of assistance in taking off shoes.

To further enhance efficiency in taking off a shoe, a contact area between the heel of the shoe and the body 100 can be increased. As shown in FIG. 2, the connection portion 110 has a fixing wall 160 located inside the shoe-receiving space 130, formed on and protruding downwards from inner edge portions of the connection portion 110 and the blocking flanges 150, and integrally formed with and connected between the blocking flanges 150. A protective contact portion 180 made from an abrasion-resistant material, such as thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), may be applied on a bottom of the fixing wall 160 for protection against scratch and damage to the shoe upon taking off the shoe. After the heel of a shoe is inserted in the shoe-receiving space 130, a rear portion of the heel of the shoe contacts the fixing wall 160. Under the blocking effect of the fixing wall 160 and the blocking flanges 150, it is hard for the heel to be moved upwards. Accordingly, the efficiency in taking off a shoe can be enhanced. To facilitate ease in putting on or taking off shoe, multiple anti-slip projections, which are made of a rubber material, are cylindrical or prismatic and are formed on an inner sidewall of the fixing wall 160. After a shoe is inserted in the shoe-receiving space 130, the anti-slip projections are deformed and rubbed and friction generated between the shoe and the anti-slip projections resists against the movement of the shoe relative to the body 100. After the shoe is removed from the shoe-receiving space 130, the anti-slip projections restore from the deformed state.

With reference to FIG. 3, to take connection strength between the blocking flanges 150 and the holding portions 120 into account to ensure that the blocking flanges 150 do not fall apart during operation of the shoehorn, the body 100 further has multiple reinforced ribs 170. The reinforced ribs 170 may be connected with the blocking flanges 150 and the fixing wall 160 and may be integrally formed with the blocking flanges 150 and the fixing wall 160. Thus, connection strength between the blocking flanges 150 and the holding portions 120 can be enhanced for the blocking flanges 150 and the holding portions 120 to resist higher force exerted thereon and prevent the blocking flanges 150 and the holding portions 120 from being damaged and falling apart by excessively large force exerted by the user. The reinforced ribs 170 may be arranged in a crisscrossed pattern.

To enhance operational convenience of the shoehorn, with reference to FIG. 4, a second embodiment of a shoehorn in accordance with the present invention differs from the first embodiment in that the connection portion 110 has a stick-mounting portion 111 formed thereon. The stick-mounting portion 111 is cylindrical and has a recessed portion 112 and multiple engagement portions. The recessed portion 112 is formed in the stick-mounting portion 111. The multiple engagement portions are formed on an inner wall of the recessed portion 112 for engaging an external member. The stick-mounting portion 111 enhances spatial extensibility of the shoehorn. When it is necessary for users to conveniently take off the shoe with the external member fastened on the shoehorn, the external member can be detachably connected to the stick-mounting portion 111. When the external member is no longer needed, the external member can be removed from the shoehorn. Thus, users can have more alternatives tailored to their preferred operation of the shoehorn.

With reference to FIG. 5, a third embodiment of a shoehorn 20 in accordance with the present invention differs from the second embodiment in that the shoehorn further includes a grip stick 200. The grip stick 200 is elongated and has a stick insertion end 201 formed on one end of the grip stick 200. The stick insertion end 201 is detachably connected with the stick-mounting portion 111 of the connection portion 110. The stick insertion end 201 may engage the stick-mounting portion 111 or the stick insertion end 201 is fastened on the stick-mounting portion 111 through threaded connection. The detachable nature of the grip stick 200 and the body 100 facilitates delivery and storage of the shoehorn.

To enhance the operational effectiveness for adaptation to different types of users, the grip stick 200 may be curved. The curvature and length of the grip stick 200 can be categorized into different levels, such as adult levels and child levels. The grip stick 200 for the adult levels has a larger curvature and a longer length, for example, being 30 degrees and 100 centimeters respectively. The grip stick 200 for the child levels has a smaller curvature and a shorter length, for example, being 20 degrees and 30 centimeters respectively. Hence, the shoehorn with right choice of the grip stick 200 can adapt to users of all ages to select corresponding types of shoehorns regardless of users who are not comfortable or have waist injury.

With reference to FIG. 6, a fourth embodiment of a shoehorn 30 in accordance with the present invention differs from the third embodiment in having an auxiliary shoe-fitting tool 300 and an engagement structure of the grip stick 200 in connection with the shoe-fitting tool 300. Under the circumstance that the grip stick 200 is inserted in the body 100 of the shoehorn 30, the shoe-fitting tool 300 serves as an additional aid for user's foot to easily slip into a shoe together with the support of the grip stick 200 and the body 100 connected to each other. The shoe-fitting tool 300 has a tool insertion end 301 formed on one end of the shoe-fitting tool 300. The grip stick 200 has a tool-receiving end 202 connected with the tool insertion end 301. The tool insertion end 301 and the tool-receiving end 202 may engage each other or may be detachably fastened to each other through threaded connection for easing delivery and storage of the shoehorn. When the shoehorn 30 is used for users to put on a shoe, the shoe-fitting tool 300 is inserted in the shoe for a user to easily put on the shoe and the shoe-fitting tool 300 is pulled out of the shoe after the user's foot is fully inserted into the shoe.

With reference to FIG. 7, a fifth embodiment of a shoehorn 30′ in accordance with the present invention differs from the fourth embodiment in that the grip stick 200 in the shoehorn 30′ is straight while the grip stick 200 in the shoehorn 30 is curved.

The shoehorn in accordance with the present invention is advantageous in that the structure of the connection portion 110, two holding portions 120 connected with two ends of the connection portion 110, and the shoe-receiving space 130 defined by the connection portion 110 and the holding portions 120 to enhance the function in taking off a shoe. Meanwhile, the grip stick 200 can expand the user groups of the shoehorn, extensively put the shoehorn into practice, and further increase shoe-wearing effectiveness when the shoe-fitting tool 300 is connected with the body 100 to press the body 100 against the ground.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A shoehorn, comprising a body, wherein the body includes: a connection portion having a stick-mounting portion formed thereon; two holding portions respectively connected with two ends of the connection portion; a shoe-receiving space defined within the connection portion and the two holding portions and adapted to receive a heel of a shoe to be inserted in the body; a guiding opening formed between two ends of the two holding portions distal to the connection portion and communicating with the shoe-receiving space; two blocking flanges formed on and protruding inwardly from two inner side edge portions of the holding portions facing each other; and a grip stick having a stick insertion end formed on one end of the grip stick and engaging the stick-mounting portion of the connection portion.
 2. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grip stick is curved.
 3. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grip stick is straight.
 4. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a shoe-fitting tool, wherein the shoe-fitting tool has a tool insertion end formed on one end of the shoe-fitting tool; and the grip stick has a tool-receiving end connected with the tool insertion end of the shoe-fitting tool.
 5. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a shoe-fitting tool, wherein the shoe-fitting tool has a tool insertion end formed on one end of the shoe-fitting tool; and the grip stick has a tool-receiving end connected with the tool insertion end of the shoe-fitting tool.
 6. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 3, further comprising a shoe-fitting tool, wherein the shoe-fitting tool has a tool insertion end formed on one end of the shoe-fitting tool; and the grip stick has a tool-receiving end connected with the tool insertion end of the shoe-fitting tool.
 7. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 4, further comprising a shoe-fitting tool, wherein the shoe-fitting tool has a tool insertion end formed on one end of the shoe-fitting tool; and the grip stick has a tool-receiving end connected with the tool insertion end of the shoe-fitting tool.
 8. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two blocking flanges are integrally formed with the respective holding portions.
 9. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 8, wherein the body has multiple reinforced ribs connected with the blocking flanges.
 10. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connection portion and the two holding portions are integrally formed.
 11. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 10, wherein the connection portion and the two holding portions are U-shaped.
 12. The shoehorn as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connection portion is semicircular. 